Available as a free download from www.viigo.com, this superb RSS feed reader can be downloaded and installed in a matter of minutes via a multitude of different options.

Download and installation

To download, visit www.viigo.com/download and choose the Windows Mobile Desktop Install option from the right-hand menu.

Depending on your Windows Mobile device, you will need to choose between the options:

Download to your PC

Download including .NET CF 2.0.

This can be quite a daunting choice – one which depends on your knowledge of your phone and operating system. As a rule of thumb, if you purchased your Windows Mobile device as new in 2008 or later then you can take the first option. For all other Windows Mobile handsets take the second option. This will be a larger download, but will equip your phone for a lot of other modern Windows Mobile applications.

Once the download has completed, you’ll need to check your Windows Mobile device is switched on and connected to your PC or laptop via USB cable. USB cable is more reliable for installing software than Bluetooth.

ActiveSync should be installed and running on the Windows desktop or laptop and a connection have been established with your mobile device. Once this has been achieved, find the file you downloaded from Viigo.com (for instance ViigoPublicBeta.exe) and double click to begin the installation. Follow the onscreen instructions on both your PC and Windows Mobile device for installation.

(Advanced Windows Mobile users may opt to download Viigo via the various over the air options, such as SMS, email or direct download from the mobile browser. These options are all available on the viigo.com/downloads page. Once downloaded to your phone, simply select the .CAB file to install.)

It’s always worth restarting your Windows Mobile device after installing new software, so switch your device off and back on again to fully complete installation.

Configuring RSS feeds

Once installed, Viigo can be run from the Programs menu of your Windows Mobile device. An account with the service is required, and this can be setup at www.myviigo.com. This account will retain all of your current RSS feed settings, useful in the event of loss or damage to your phone, or you need to reinstall the application.

With your account setup on the Viigo website, log in to the application on your Windows Mobile handset. There are a considerable number of feed categories – most of these include preset feeds that can be subscribed to or unsubscribed to, depending on your preference and how well they meet your needs.

To subscribe to a preset Sports feed, select the Sports menu item and select Add Channel. A list of sports from Golf to American Football and Soccer are available to choose from, with some categories depending on level, region, etc. For instance Motor Sports is split into F1, IndyCar and NASCAR.

Within these subcategories, select the feed you require to subscribe to it – the RSS feed icon will change from greyed out to orange when the feed has been synchronised.

To view the feed, return to the main menu by clicking Back and then return to the Sports category – the feed you added will be available under the appropriate sport heading.

You might prefer however to add your own choice of RSS feeds. This can be done easily via the News & RSS menu item. Using the Menu in the lower right of the screen, choose Add Channel to choose from a range of Viigo recommended feeds and blogs or choose the Add you own channel to add a feed URL of your own choice. It’s also possible to set up a variety of other feed options from this screen, such as a Google Reader aggregator feed.

Note that you can keep up with your position within the menus and screens on Viigo via the tree that runs across the top of each screen.

Finally, depending on the available memory on your Windows Mobile handset you might need to alter both the number of posts downloaded as well as the frequency of feed synchronisation. These settings can both be applied via the Options on the main Menu, where you can also change language preferences.

Frequency of synchonrisation and post download volume may also be a consideration for Windows Mobile users without generous dataplans, so bear this in mind when installing Viigo for Windows Mobile